Writing 1
I can show readers the events, conversations, and images rather than simply telling about them.
Artifact 1: Conflich quick write
Artifact 2: Personal Narrative
Artifact 1: Conflich quick write
Artifact 2: Personal Narrative
Conflict Quick Write
The summer before seventh grade, I had a best friend. Her name was Zoe. I went over to her house every day, we were inseparable. That whole summer was amazing, we had so much fun doing so many different things.
When school started, things went downhill. I started to realize that I was just a placeholder for her real best friend who had to spend the whole summer babysitting her brother. We were still friends at school, but I turned into a pretty big third wheel. I spent lunch listening to them talk to each other, and if I tried to add to the conversation, they ignored me. We would all usually walk home from school together, but only if I got out of the building first. If they got out before me, they would leave me behind without blinking an eye. This really hurt me. When your only real friend starts ignoring you, you really feel alone.
The issue was, she still called me up every weekend and wanted to hang out. I now realize that it was because her real best friend still had to babysit her brother on weekends, but at the time, I was convinced that she wanted to be my best friend. I was conflicted, because although I was being ignored at school, weekends with Zoe were tons of fun. Basically, she was using me and dragging me along, making me think I had a friend for life when in reality I was a stand-in.
Eventually it became too much. I was constantly ignored, they would ditch me after school, and I was starting to feel like I had zero friends. The last straw was on Zoe’s birthday. The three of us (Zoe, me and Zoe’s best friend) had made plans to go to Zoe’s house after school and celebrate. We had planned it all out during lunch that day. After school, I waited outside the building for them. After about ten minutes have passed, I call Zoe.
She answers the phone while laughing, “Hey Lucy! What’s up?”
“Are you guys out of school yet? I’ve been waiting for a while.” I reply, slightly annoyed.
She continues to laugh, I wish I knew what the joke had been, “Oh sorry, we’re already at the gas station getting snacks. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said, not sounding sorry at all.
At this point I’m mad, and a little hurt. They made plans to hang out with me and then ditched me without even a text to let me know. “It’s fine.” I say without meaning it, “Bye.”
I then walked down to the gas station by myself, to get some snacks of my own. I purchased a bag of sour patch kids and a giant orange soda from the soda fountain. I have no idea why I thought I needed such a large soda, but it ended up coming in handy.
Then I started walking home. I am a naturally fast walker, and somehow unintentionally managed to catch up with Zoe and her friend. The were friendly when they saw me, but I could tell they didn’t want to see me. I was still angry and hurt and in that moment my instincts took over me. I took the lid off of my nearly-full gigantic styrofoam cup of orange soda, and threw it in her face. It happened in slow motion, covering her and her brand new birthday outfit in sticky orange liquid. She gasped and stood there without moving as I stormed off, now crying my eyes out.
We didn’t speak to each other for over a year, and to this day it’s awkward when the two of us interact. Looking back now, I really regret the way I ended the friendship, but I’m glad I ended it. It was not a healthy relationship to be in, and caused an internal conflict that tore at my mind. Though the months after this event were extremely lonely, I’m glad i didn’t have to spend any more time in a toxic friendship.
The summer before seventh grade, I had a best friend. Her name was Zoe. I went over to her house every day, we were inseparable. That whole summer was amazing, we had so much fun doing so many different things.
When school started, things went downhill. I started to realize that I was just a placeholder for her real best friend who had to spend the whole summer babysitting her brother. We were still friends at school, but I turned into a pretty big third wheel. I spent lunch listening to them talk to each other, and if I tried to add to the conversation, they ignored me. We would all usually walk home from school together, but only if I got out of the building first. If they got out before me, they would leave me behind without blinking an eye. This really hurt me. When your only real friend starts ignoring you, you really feel alone.
The issue was, she still called me up every weekend and wanted to hang out. I now realize that it was because her real best friend still had to babysit her brother on weekends, but at the time, I was convinced that she wanted to be my best friend. I was conflicted, because although I was being ignored at school, weekends with Zoe were tons of fun. Basically, she was using me and dragging me along, making me think I had a friend for life when in reality I was a stand-in.
Eventually it became too much. I was constantly ignored, they would ditch me after school, and I was starting to feel like I had zero friends. The last straw was on Zoe’s birthday. The three of us (Zoe, me and Zoe’s best friend) had made plans to go to Zoe’s house after school and celebrate. We had planned it all out during lunch that day. After school, I waited outside the building for them. After about ten minutes have passed, I call Zoe.
She answers the phone while laughing, “Hey Lucy! What’s up?”
“Are you guys out of school yet? I’ve been waiting for a while.” I reply, slightly annoyed.
She continues to laugh, I wish I knew what the joke had been, “Oh sorry, we’re already at the gas station getting snacks. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said, not sounding sorry at all.
At this point I’m mad, and a little hurt. They made plans to hang out with me and then ditched me without even a text to let me know. “It’s fine.” I say without meaning it, “Bye.”
I then walked down to the gas station by myself, to get some snacks of my own. I purchased a bag of sour patch kids and a giant orange soda from the soda fountain. I have no idea why I thought I needed such a large soda, but it ended up coming in handy.
Then I started walking home. I am a naturally fast walker, and somehow unintentionally managed to catch up with Zoe and her friend. The were friendly when they saw me, but I could tell they didn’t want to see me. I was still angry and hurt and in that moment my instincts took over me. I took the lid off of my nearly-full gigantic styrofoam cup of orange soda, and threw it in her face. It happened in slow motion, covering her and her brand new birthday outfit in sticky orange liquid. She gasped and stood there without moving as I stormed off, now crying my eyes out.
We didn’t speak to each other for over a year, and to this day it’s awkward when the two of us interact. Looking back now, I really regret the way I ended the friendship, but I’m glad I ended it. It was not a healthy relationship to be in, and caused an internal conflict that tore at my mind. Though the months after this event were extremely lonely, I’m glad i didn’t have to spend any more time in a toxic friendship.
Personal Narrative
Coming from a family of musicians, me playing music is extremely important to my parents. They send me to honors orchestras, random performances, and most importantly, orchestra summer camp. My second year at this this camp, I brought my best friend Maddy with me. Maddy is unique, to say the least. 6 feet tall, slytherin, gender nonconforming, and the kind of person who builds their entire personality around being gay (in the best way). They’re my favorite person.
The first day of camp, Maddy saw a girl in the cafeteria and developed an obsession. Her name was Jess. She was the kind of girl who can’t go unnoticed. Tiny, probably under 5 foot, with an orange mohawk and a beaming smile. I have to admit, she was adorable. Maddy followed her around for the rest of camp, though now they swear they didn’t.
The second night of camp, there was a choose your activity night. Maddy made me join the group walking to a spring, because that was the activity that Jess had chose. Jess, being the cool girl she was, was in a huge group of people. Maddy and I wormed our way into her pack and found ourselves talking to a sweet girl with short blue hair. I recognized her, she was staying on the same floor as us. She introduced herself as Marge, and we got into a conversation about our hometowns. Maddy was half there the whole time, keeping one eye on Jess.
When we got to the spring, this giant, broad- shouldered, muscular guy started talking to Maddy. It started with him insulting their clothes and their hair. Who does this guy think he is? Someone has the confidence to be theirself and he breaks them down? Maddy laughed it off. He kept going with mediocre insults, it seemed like he was mostly joking. Jess was laughing with him, and I could see that Maddy was suffering. Then this kid said two simple words that pushed it over.
“You’re trash.”
I could see in Maddy’s eyes that something had snapped. A switch flipped. They went from slightly hurt to enraged in a millisecond. They lunged at this kid. Maddy seemed to think that their noodle arms could hurt this 6 foot 5 block of muscle standing a few feet away. I grabbed Maddy by the waist and pulled them back. Why had this affected them so much? They fought against me, clawing at my arms and flailing about, but I’m much stronger than them. The three of us, Maddy, Marge, and I, walked away from the scene, and walked back to the dorms.
Maddy sits down on their bed, pulling their knees to their chest, “Do you guys want to know why I got so mad?”
Marge and I sit down on either side of Maddy, signaling that they can talk.
Maddy takes a deep breath, it’s clear that this will be a difficult story to tell. “When I was in elementary school, no one liked me. I was bullied a ton. Kids would call me trash and push me into trash cans. It’s taken me a really long time to get over that and feel good about myself. When that guy called me trash, getting really angry was a better reaction than sobbing. I needed to do something, so I chose the reaction that would get me less teasing.”
I could see the tears filling up in Maddy’s eyes, threatening to spill over the edge. I realized something that night. No matter how happy and confident someone is, you don’t know their past, and you don’t know their triggers. It seems obvious, but no one really to understands it. No one knows what another person has been through, and you don’t know what will get under their skin.
Maddy’s tears spill.
I look over at Marge, wiping the tears off of Maddy’s face. How did she have this effect on Maddy? They’re such a private person, and they opened up to Marge right away. Is it because Marge seems immediately trustworthy, or because Maddy was in a bad place and needed someone to vent to? Either way, I was surprised, and somewhat hurt. Did Maddy trust me immediately when they met me?
This experience gave me a lot. I gained knowledge, and a new close friend. I now know that anything can be beneath the surface of a person, and often it’s more than you expect. Maddy, Marge, and I are still close, and I’m so glad we had that night to bring us together.
Coming from a family of musicians, me playing music is extremely important to my parents. They send me to honors orchestras, random performances, and most importantly, orchestra summer camp. My second year at this this camp, I brought my best friend Maddy with me. Maddy is unique, to say the least. 6 feet tall, slytherin, gender nonconforming, and the kind of person who builds their entire personality around being gay (in the best way). They’re my favorite person.
The first day of camp, Maddy saw a girl in the cafeteria and developed an obsession. Her name was Jess. She was the kind of girl who can’t go unnoticed. Tiny, probably under 5 foot, with an orange mohawk and a beaming smile. I have to admit, she was adorable. Maddy followed her around for the rest of camp, though now they swear they didn’t.
The second night of camp, there was a choose your activity night. Maddy made me join the group walking to a spring, because that was the activity that Jess had chose. Jess, being the cool girl she was, was in a huge group of people. Maddy and I wormed our way into her pack and found ourselves talking to a sweet girl with short blue hair. I recognized her, she was staying on the same floor as us. She introduced herself as Marge, and we got into a conversation about our hometowns. Maddy was half there the whole time, keeping one eye on Jess.
When we got to the spring, this giant, broad- shouldered, muscular guy started talking to Maddy. It started with him insulting their clothes and their hair. Who does this guy think he is? Someone has the confidence to be theirself and he breaks them down? Maddy laughed it off. He kept going with mediocre insults, it seemed like he was mostly joking. Jess was laughing with him, and I could see that Maddy was suffering. Then this kid said two simple words that pushed it over.
“You’re trash.”
I could see in Maddy’s eyes that something had snapped. A switch flipped. They went from slightly hurt to enraged in a millisecond. They lunged at this kid. Maddy seemed to think that their noodle arms could hurt this 6 foot 5 block of muscle standing a few feet away. I grabbed Maddy by the waist and pulled them back. Why had this affected them so much? They fought against me, clawing at my arms and flailing about, but I’m much stronger than them. The three of us, Maddy, Marge, and I, walked away from the scene, and walked back to the dorms.
Maddy sits down on their bed, pulling their knees to their chest, “Do you guys want to know why I got so mad?”
Marge and I sit down on either side of Maddy, signaling that they can talk.
Maddy takes a deep breath, it’s clear that this will be a difficult story to tell. “When I was in elementary school, no one liked me. I was bullied a ton. Kids would call me trash and push me into trash cans. It’s taken me a really long time to get over that and feel good about myself. When that guy called me trash, getting really angry was a better reaction than sobbing. I needed to do something, so I chose the reaction that would get me less teasing.”
I could see the tears filling up in Maddy’s eyes, threatening to spill over the edge. I realized something that night. No matter how happy and confident someone is, you don’t know their past, and you don’t know their triggers. It seems obvious, but no one really to understands it. No one knows what another person has been through, and you don’t know what will get under their skin.
Maddy’s tears spill.
I look over at Marge, wiping the tears off of Maddy’s face. How did she have this effect on Maddy? They’re such a private person, and they opened up to Marge right away. Is it because Marge seems immediately trustworthy, or because Maddy was in a bad place and needed someone to vent to? Either way, I was surprised, and somewhat hurt. Did Maddy trust me immediately when they met me?
This experience gave me a lot. I gained knowledge, and a new close friend. I now know that anything can be beneath the surface of a person, and often it’s more than you expect. Maddy, Marge, and I are still close, and I’m so glad we had that night to bring us together.
In the first one, I don't do any serious description. No vivid words are used, and there aren't any expanded moments or very much of character development. It's a boring story with no exciting elements. In my personal narrative, I vividly describe characters, and I have a big expanded moment. I'm proud of how I've gotten better at description.